Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh,26/11/2022: A roadside vendor selling sweet corn in Vijayawada. Sweet corn is a most sought after dish in many functions, malls and cinema theatres. A cup of sween corn is being sold between Rs. 30 and above.
Photo: G N RAO / The Hindu
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RAO GN
A controversy is brewing within the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) over which division should oversee research for baby corn and sweet corn. The disagreement, fueled by a request from a Haryana farmer and supported by the State’s horticulture university, centers on whether these specialty corns should be treated as field crops or vegetable or horticulture crops.
It all began in June when Haryana farmer Kanwal Singh Chauhan wrote to Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. He asked that baby corn and sweet corn be included under the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), a centrally sponsored scheme that offers financial benefits to farmers. This letter was passed to the ICAR’s Director-General, sparking the internal debate.
ICAR’s horticulture division argues that both are horticulture crops because consumers treat them as vegetables for use in salads, soups, and other dishes. They point out that the Varanasi-based Indian Institute of Vegetable Research is already running projects on baby corn and highlighted the crop’s growing global market, projected to rise from $1.46 billion in 2024 to $2.3 billion by 2030.
Deepening rift
In contrast, the crops division maintains that research should remain with the Ludhiana-based Indian Institute of Maize Research (IIMR), as both are fundamentally similar to maize.
The rift deepened when Suresh Kumar Malhotra, Vice-Chancellor of Haryana’s Maharana Pratap Horticultural University (MHU), wrote to ICAR on August 20. He requested that MHU be approved as a voluntary center to conduct specialty corn trials under the All India Coordinated Research Project (AICRP).
IIMR Director H.S. Jaat has since backed this request, recommending MHU’s inclusion. Jaat noted the need to strengthen research facilities in the National Capital Region, where demand for baby corn and sweet corn is escalating, and where there are currently a low number of research centers.
Some experts suggest the bureaucratic turf war is counterproductive. One former ICAR official argued that the focus should be on practical benefits: “The crop may be included under MIDH… so that the benefits of the scheme should reach farmers, who are not bothered who is doing the research.”
Published on October 7, 2025